From Inside Business By Tara Bozick
Tony DiSilvestro, known as the founder of Ynot Enterprises in Hampton Roads, is bringing a three-day conference to Virginia Beach with top executives and entrepreneurs, including basketball icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
DiSilvestro expects “The Business Scaling Experience” to attract 500-600 attendees April 24-26 at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Town Center.
“For me, I want to help the business community of Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads and just elevate everybody to the next level as much as I can,” DiSilvestro said.
DiSilvestro, an entrepreneur living in Virginia Beach who’s founded over 30 businesses and has mentored other business owners for more than two decades, attends and speaks at conferences all over the country and wanted to bring a motivating event experience to his backyard. The people he works with know when he comes back from a conference because he is energized and on fire sharing new ideas, he said.
“I love being around entrepreneurs,” he said.
The past few years with the pandemic have been difficult, and now with a pending recession, business owners can really use the opportunity to collaborate, learn and grow from each other, DiSilvestro said.
The conference is showcasing a dozen high-powered speakers from across the country who will talk about key aspects of scaling a business.
In addition to basketball stardom, Johnson is also the founder and CEO of a billion-dollar company, Magic Johnson Enterprises. He will share a message about the importance of customer experience — being an experience creator — and understanding the diversified marketplace. Johnson is also part of the group that recently submitted a bid to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
Other speakers include: David Meltzer, the co-founder of Sports 1 Marketing and former CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment; Tamra Andress, of F.I.T. in Faith podcast; Darryll Stinson, a pastor and founder of Second Chance Athletes; Brian Hess, president and CEO of The Pavement Group; Kate Volman, CEO of Floyd Consulting; and Michelle Pippin, founder of Women Who WOW.
The conference will have breakout rooms and roundtables for specific topics with the idea of helping to tailor solutions or ideas to attendees’ business needs.
A part of the proceeds will benefit Safe House Project and The Entrepreneurship and Business Academy at Kempsville High School.
Tickets cost $97 for general admission and $497 and up for various experiences with seated access to breakout sessions. For more information, visit businessscalingexperience.com. As a bonus, use the promo code “SCALE” to save $200.
